Category: Brunch

I admit fully that I took this recipe from my mother-in-law. And it’s great! I love when people I love are health conscious.

Just like my last post, I’m on a hunt for quick and easy food that won’t leave me too full (This little unborn baby is taking up large amounts of my trunk.) but that are still nutritious.

I HAD been staying away from dairy for the most part, and – besides my daily Greek yogurt – I still steer clear of it the rest of the day. BUT this recipe is delicious. And I need more opportunities to shove fat into my diet to keep baby brain at bay.

Eggs and cream cheese? That’s it? Yep. I did whipped cream cheese since it needing whipping anyway. Full fat, duh.

Put 4 eggs and approximately 4 oz. of cream cheese in my ninja processor and waited for the smoothness. You can add in vanilla extra or berries or chives or whatever the heck you’d like. But these taste great plain!

Oh, and while I was cooking, I had a load of laundry going using my new magnetic laundry system. NO detergent required. So environmentally perfect! Another lovely gift from my mother-in-law. I had been using soapstones, which were working well, but this is more of a permanent, less annoying switch. Worth the investment!

And another thing worth celebrating? My two-year annivesary. We bought half-moon cookies from Holland Farms, which is what we had instead of cake at our wedding. The one of the left is his carrot cake, and mine is the vanilla bottom half-moon. I could eat them all day. But, I won’t, because – gluten.

Back to pancakes! Pour it into a skillet or griddle (very runny) with a little coconut oil or ghee and let it sit like you would a normal pancake. Bubbles will form. You can use a mini spreader to pop up the corners a bit if you’re using a skillet like I did.

Then grab a giant spatula to flip! And let it go a few minutes on the other side.

Mine are a little puffy and not as crepe-like because I used a lot of batter in a little skillet, but you can make them in any size or thickness you would like! Play around. Add some pure local maple syrup to it and you’re in heaven. Like this little guy below.

A quick and easy 2-ingredient recipe for a grain-free breakfast that will leave you full all day. Try adding in some chives or toss some berries on top depending on what you have in your fridge. So yummy!

The sweet potato-nesscontinues! Mostly because I had some leftover potatoes from the salmon recipe. Also, I needed a recipe that I could make rather quickly–as we have a new addition to the household…

We found these two crying under our neighbor’s shed that backs into our yard. One had come out and was crying loudly enough for us to hear as we were out playing with the pup. My husband was about to take off for an overnight work trip, so it all happened very quickly. His ride shows up, I grab kitties, he puts them in a tote, and off he goes. With me, the kitties, and the puppy staring off into a long day.

I had no idea what to do with them so I started calling local shelters and posting the dilemma on Facebook. Apparently, Central New York is in a “Kitten Crisis,” so every place was too full to take them and Animal Control told me right up front that they would have to “get rid of them.” Oh, no. I will not take part in that.

I realized I would quickly need to help them survive on my own, then, and went to the store and picked up replacment milk for them and a mini bottle. Freakin’ cute.

Armed with a heating pad, some old blankets, and the faux-mother’s milk, I followed the directions carefully and went about practicing for motherhood. Exhausted, but amused. The puppy isn’t quite sure what to make of them still–although he does enjoy licking the spilled milk off of them. Great! Replacement mothering! He does seem to want to paw at them and knock them over though–gently, he knocks them over gently…just to see what happens. I watch him like a hawk.

So, yeah. That happened and when the husband came home the next night, I needed a quick way to feed the hard-working boy. Hence, this quick frittata.

After reading the book, The Complete Low-FODMAP Diet: A Revolutionary Plan for Managing IBS and Other Digestive Disorders, by Shepherd and Gibson, and, after doing some preliminary research, I decided that this could be the answer to my stomach and skin issues. Fingers crossed! Another reassuring part? Beer and cheese came back on the table.Phew! Yes! Score! Woot woot! Goodbye gluten- and dairy-free diet, and hello gluten-free (except beer) and lactose-free life! Low-FODMAP living, here I come! I think the most difficult part will be no onions, garlic or avocados. Eep. They’re my favorites. And they’re in everything.

With the dog acting as kitten guardian, I went to work on this delicious and easy meal from Shepherd’s book. It’s the first recipe in the casserole section. Oh, how I missed casseroles. Gooey, yummy squishiness of heaven.

About halfway through prepping the meal, I had to check on the kitties to make sure Hobo hadn’t tipped over the tote and devoured them. Safe. And he was sleeping by the side of the tote. Adorable! Also, odd. He usually stays near my feet as I cook in case he can catch some drippings.

I don’t think it has too much spinach but, goodness, me! I can’t even see the rest of the meal in there. If I didn’t need to cook the sweet potatoes first, I think I would have liked to cook down the spinach just a tad to get it wilted and less offensively overtaking the meal. But, less cooking means more nutrients!

With just a little wiggle check. It was ready for consumption! I missed cheese. Now, I want nothing but cheese. And blue cheese offers the perfect amount of sassiness in a meal.

I will definitely make this again. It’s a sure winner. Fast and easy. I might even play around with the ingredients. Sweet peppers instead of sweet potatoes. Sharp local cheddar instead of blue cheese. Kale from the garden instead of spinach. We always have plenty of eggs in the house because I have two sources of farm eggs at work. The bright-yellow yolk and extra thick shells are unbeatable in local farm eggs. Makes you think you are being extra healthy–and I love supporting the local community.

My husband might have said he really loved this, or he might have asked how the kitties were doing, or we might have devolved into Jeopardy watching. Not sure. I just know I love it. I hope you will, too!